Main menu

Pages

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Recipe for Farinata with Rosemary and Pepper (Italian Chickpea Flatbread)

This slightly crispy chickpea flatbread called Farinata comes from the region of Italy called Liguria, and it's something I've been wanting to try for a long time. It's made by combining water, olive oil, and chickpea flour, letting it rest, seasoning with herbs and black pepper, and then baking in an ultra-hot oven, and this same combination of ingredients is called Socca in France and Cecina or Torta de Ceci in other parts of Italy. Since the batter is made entirely with chickpea flour, it's gluten free and extremely low-glycemic, perfect for a South Beach Dieter who's been wanting a crunchy snack.

I've been to Italy, but not to Liguria, so I have no idea if my way of making this is authentic. The farinata I've seen on other blogs looks much more yellow, and I'm wondering if the chickpea flour in Italy may be a bit different, but this version was delicious and it's definitely something I'll be making again. This delicious flatbread with rosemary is my entry for Weekend Herb Blogging, now managed by Haalo from Cook (almost) Anything At Least Once, and hosted by Heather from Diary of a Fanatic Foodie this week. Here is more information about WHB if you'd like to participate.

Finding the Chickpea Flourmay be tricky if you don't live in a big city. I'd check European, Indian, or Middle Eastern markets, or you can follow that link and buy it from Amazon.com. (Full disclaimer, Kalyn's Kitchen earns a few cents on the dollar when you buy things I've linked to, so thanks to anyone who does.)

Most recipes I saw said the flour/water/olive oil combination should rest for a while before it's cooked. I let it rest overnight the first time and only 3 hours the second time, and didn't see too much difference in the end result. After the thin batter had rested, I mixed in finely chopped rosemary.

I didn't have a cast iron griddle like this is cooked on in Italy, so I preheated my pan in the 450F oven before I poured the batter in, then ground black pepper over the top. This pan is 9" X 13" but if you're using the oven I think the pan could be a little larger. (Thanks to a sharp commenter for noticing I didn't mention that!)

Here's the cooked farinata, which I cut into cracker-shaped pieces. Since then I've read that it's cooked on round pans in Italy and cut into irregular shaped pieces. I've been thinking of buying a round cast-iron frying pan, which seems like it would be perfect for cooking this. I'm also thinking that I made it too thick, after reading about it on other blogs. Stay tuned for more Farinata experiments!

Mix together chickpea flour and salt, mix in water and olive oil and let the batter rest several hours or longer. (Some recipes recommend sifting the flour and salt together, but I just whisked the water into it.)

When ready to bake, preheat oven to 450F, then preheat the pan for about 10 minutes. (I cooked this in a small toaster oven which doesn't get hotter than 450F. If your oven goes higher, I would use a higher temperature.) Finely chop 1 T fresh rosemary (or grind a smaller amount of dried rosemary) and whisk into batter. Remove pan from oven, pour in about 1 T olive oil and spread around, then pour in batter. Grind a generous amount of black pepper over batter.

Bake the farinata until it's starting to crisp and brown around the edges, about 20-25 minutes. This is meant to be served warm, but I thought it was also delicious cold, when it become slightly crisp like a cracker.

Since chickpeas are such a perfect low-glycemic ingredient, this delightful snack would be great for phase 2 or 3 of the South Beach Diet. (I had previously listed this recipe as approved for all phases, but I discovered in one of the South Beach Diet cookbooks that all flours are prohibited for phase one, even nut flours and non-wheat flours. I apologize for the mistake.) If you like South Beach Diet friendly hummus, I'm guessing you will like this too. Thanks to a reader named Mare who reminded me in the comments that this would be a great vehicle for delivering hummus to your mouth too!

Posts may include links to my affiliate account at Amazon.com, and this blog earns a few cents on the dollar if readers purchase the items I recommend, so thanks for supporting my blog when you shop at Amazon!

This looks amazing. I've wanted to try more flatbreads, and now you've got me changing plans to head to the Indian market today in search of chickpea flour. Looks like you came up with an easy modification for the home kitchen.

I love farinata! I've tried it (as socca..) with Arabic as well as Italian chickpea flour, which is softer and finer. The Italian flour is very hard to find, and expensive, especially in the states. Now I know what to bring you on my next visit!

I remember seeing an old episode of The French Chef where Julia was in the market in Nice, and they were making socca on round cast-iron griddles. It's poured thin, like a batter, and cooks quickly until it's a not quite stiff cracker. Yours looks delicious with the rosemary.

Hi everyone,Glad people like the sound of this.I think the chickpea flour I have is from whole foods, but I'll definitely check at the Indian market here and see what kind they have. And David, I'll look forward to some real Italian chickpea flour from you someday!

Thank you very much for a terrific blog and all the effort you have put in to encourage a sustainable, healthy and fun! cooking lifestyle.I am so thankful I "stumbled" on to your blog for both my hubby's health and my own. I wanted to know more so I purchased the SouthBeach Supercharged book and have just completed Phase One. I am very encouraged with some good results and also the fact that it is so realistic. I am 52 years young and I am excited about this new adventure and the myriad of health benefits for my family and myself.Thank you Kalyn - you and your work have truly inspired me! Many Blessings back to you and yours. Suzie :O)

Suzie, thanks for letting me know you're enjoying the blog, and also about your success on South Beach. It really is a very realistic way to eat, and for me the benefits of changing to a lower-glycemic way of eating have far outweighed any deprived feelings (not only the weight loss, but more energy and more even moods.) I bought that book too and need to find time to read more of it, but have enjoyed the expanded food lists in there.

Another name for chickpea flower is besan flour, which is how its labeled on the packages in the international section of my local grocery store. I think I may make this later if I have enough left in my pantry.

This looks delicious. I tried the Fat-Free Vegan Kitchen's recipe for Chickpea Crackers recently and they came out nicely too, but it's a thicker batter that you roll out and then cut with cookie cutters. I'll have to add this to my gluten-free stack of bookmarked recipes!

Msbluekatt, thanks for catching that! I used a 9X13 inch pan, which is the biggest my toaster oven will hold. I think my version was a bit thicker than the authentic farinata, so you could use a slightly bigger pan if you're using the oven. Will edit now!

This sounds really interesting, Kalyn. Before this, I've only seen Indian things made with chickpea flour. (I've never been wild about things made with besan, which is strange; I adore chickpeas!) I do like papadams that are flavoured with pepper.

Do you think maybe the yellow colour of the farinata you've seen elsewhere may be yellower because of different olive oil too?

I was wondering if anybody knows whether this is suitable for diabetics. I checked out the carb count for besan (chickpea flour) and there are definitely fewer in chickpea flour than regular flour, making this a good South Beach alternative, but the carb count seemed a little high for diabetics. Have any diabetics out there tried the farinata? How did your blood sugar react? Thank you all in advance. I would love to find this out before Thanksgiving because I think it'd be great with my low-carb artichoke dip.

Thank you very much for this site. I have just started the South Beach Diet (on day 6 of phase 1). I have already made several of your recipes, each one comes out delish!!The farinata has saved me I think as I am a HUGE bread fan and this is a wonderful replacement during the more restrictive Phase 1. I made it the first time in a baking pan and it was good, but this time I did it in a cast iron skillet like you suggested and it cooked wonderfully even, easy to remove..YUM! I loved it as you described with the rosemary, but i am also now experimenting with a sprinkle of parm cheese, garlic - also YUM!Thank you again for such a great non-bread alternative!!

I received a comment on this post from someone named Kavya with links to other blogs for me to check to see if they're SBD friendly. I can't publish other types of links like that, (and I don't really have time to go check recipes on other blogs either, because I can barely keep up with this one!) Since I have no way to contact this person, I'm just leaving a note here to say that anything made with chickpea flour should be okay, but I'm afraid I don't know about moong dal. You might try googling it to see if you can find what the glycemic index is, and if it's relatively low it's probably okay.

Thanks Kalyn, appreciate your response. I just checked that moong dal(25) has a lower GI than chickpeas(30)..so im guessing its okay to have it. I didn't find any email id to contact you and so left a comment earlier(with the links).

I love this recipe I ususally dont cook it as long and let it stay soft and use it as I would bread for like chili or some other soups I also used it as a Pizza crust the other day and It was AWSOME insed of adding the rosemary I used some garlic and some Italian seasonings in the bread. I also have used it insed of bread when I made whole wheat spagetti and added a little olive oil and some parmesean cheese to it it was soooo good.

EinsteinsSmellySock, that's true, but several people have told me that the chickpea flour used in Italy is different than the Indian version. I'm not sure if it's true, would love to do a side-by-side test myself!

yum! I am in the middle of Phase 1, and this recipe is awesome, especially with hummus dip. I use finely chopped red onion, garlic, rosemary, sage, and oregano + lots of cracked black pepper in mine. I'm going to give an Indian accent to my next attempt -- cumin, fennel, chili powder. sounds good, right?

Hi Kalyn, Google found me your site earlier today and I'm loving it. Just had the chilli (can't remember the name, the one with lime) out of my slow cooker and it was great. I found this recipe and went down to the bulk foods shop to get Chickpea flour (the Indian sort is also called Chana flour). If anyone is interested, the flour may be mixed with equal amounts of water and used in recipes as a egg replacer (handy if you have had your servings of egg for the day!).

I'm so happy you're taking the time to comment on Kalyn's Kitchen! I love hearing from people who stop by, especially if you're sharing feedback or asking questions about a recipe I've posted here.

I've recently changed my comment settings so people can comment without signing in, but you will need to check the box to show you're a live person, and comments on older posts won't show up until I publish them. Thanks for understanding!

Food Blogger Love!

Copyright Notice

All Photos and Original Text (C) Copyright: 2005-2015, By Kalyn's Kitchen® LLC. I grant permission for photos and recipe links to be copied to social media and other sites, but not recipe text. All Other Rights Reserved. (Other bloggers may post their adapted version of any recipe found here, with their own photos and recipe text, but please link back to the original inspiring recipe on this site.)

Kalyn's Kitchen is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com.